Irony in Vinh City: People buy project land but have no road to go to

Misery without sugar

Recently, many households have been in a dilemma because they bought land in the Trung Do Townhouse Project invested by Trung Do Industrial Cooperative in Block 4, Trung Do Ward, Vinh City, but there is no road to go to. Meanwhile, when selling, the investor promised that residents who bought land in the project would be able to use a 13.5m road, a 7.5m wide paved road, 3m sidewalks on each side, running straight to the headquarters of the Trung Do Ward People's Committee.

“Now, every time we go home, we have to park our car 500m away and walk across another urban area to get home. While according to the approved planning, we are clearly allowed to use the road,” said Doan Thi Thanh Tinh (36 years old), one of the residents in this adjacent housing area.

Trung Do Townhouse Project was approved by the Provincial People's Committee for detailed construction planning in June 2018; including 27 lots with a total area of ​​nearly 2,500m2², designed 2 rows of townhouses. Of which, the southern row adjacent to Phuong Hoang Street has 13 lots; the northern row has 14 lots, adjacent to Vinh Tan Ecological Urban Area. Therefore, residents who buy 14 lots in the northern row and want to go out have to go through the land of Vinh Tan Ecological Urban Area. However, the 2 ends of the road leading to this urban area have recently been blocked with many concrete blocks, making it impossible for residents of Trung Do townhouses to use.

The roads leading to the Trung Do residential area across Vinh Tan Ecological Urban Area have been blocked, cars cannot enter or exit. Photo: Tien Hung

“They blocked the road, cars cannot go in or out. Meanwhile, Trung Do Industrial Cooperative continuously urged residents to build houses. Without a road, how can we transport materials to build houses? Some households here have been able to build houses because they built early, when the southern row of houses had not been built yet, so they had to transport them there. But now they have to do nothing,” a resident said indignantly.

On August 18, Trung Do Industrial Cooperative issued a written notice, requesting households who have purchased land for the project to urgently start building houses according to the approved design before December 31, 2022. If after the deadline, any household has not started construction, Trung Do Industrial Cooperative will sign a contract with a construction contractor to build townhouses according to the approved design. "All construction costs incurred must be paid in full and on time to the contractor. If payment is not made in accordance with regulations, based on the payment voucher, households must pay both principal and interest at the bank interest rate...", the investor's notice stated.

According to the reporter's records, the Trung Do Townhouse Project has many completed houses with people moving in. However, in front of the 14 lots in the northern row of this project is still a bumpy dirt road. At the end of the dirt road are the asphalt roads of Vinh Tan Ecological Urban Area invested by Handico Vinh Tan Urban Development Investment Joint Stock Company. But after only a short distance, they were blocked by large concrete slabs. "We used to be able to go, but now Vinh Tan Urban Area is afraid that the vehicles carrying materials to build our houses will damage the road, so they block it," said a resident in the townhouse area.

The northern row of Trung Do townhouses has 14 lots, many of which are under construction and are facing difficulties because vehicles cannot get in and out to deliver construction materials. Photo: Tien Hung

Whose responsibility is it?

Responding to this issue, Trung Do Industrial Cooperative said that the northern section of the project is adjacent to the 13.5m planned road that was approved by the Vinh City People's Committee and the Provincial People's Committee before the project was formed. "But for unknown reasons, the planned road has not been completed, including the section adjacent to the Trung Do townhouses that has not been constructed yet," said a representative of Trung Do Industrial Cooperative.

The leader of Nghe An Department of Construction said that the residents of Trung Do Townhouse Project have a basis for reflecting that the road in front of their house has not been invested in and built, affecting the lives and activities of the residents. "According to the approved planning, the northwest boundary of the project is adjacent to a 13.5m wide planned road. This road is outside the boundary of Trung Do Townhouse Project, located within the boundary of Vinh Tan Ecological Urban Area Project invested by Handico - Vinh Tan Urban Development Investment Joint Stock Company. Through checking the current status, this road has not been invested in and built by Handico - Vinh Tan Urban Development Investment Joint Stock Company," the leader of the Department of Construction said, adding that the responsibility for investing in and building this road belongs to Handico - Vinh Tan Urban Development Investment Joint Stock Company.

Since the end of August 2022, the Department of Construction has also sent a document requesting Handico - Vinh Tan Urban Development Investment Joint Stock Company to urgently complete the construction of the above 13.5m wide road according to the approved planning and schedule. The Vinh City People's Committee is responsible for urging, inspecting and supervising the implementation of the investor's construction investment. In addition, the Department of Construction also requested Handico - Vinh Tan Urban Development Investment Joint Stock Company to remove obstacles affecting traffic and people's lives. However, according to Nghe An Newspaper reporters, by mid-October, not only had the road not been invested in, but the obstacles had not been removed by Handico - Vinh Tan Urban Development Investment Joint Stock Company.

The area in front of the northern row of Trung Do townhouses was planned to be 13.5m wide but has not yet been constructed, and a foul smell is coming from the adjacent ditch. In addition, about 200m further, all exits have been blocked, so people can only enter and exit by motorbike, bicycle or on foot. Photo: Tien Hung

Speaking to Nghe An Newspaper reporter, Mr. Dinh Dung Tien - General Director of Handico - Vinh Tan Urban Development Investment Joint Stock Company said that the road had been invested in and constructed by Handico - Vinh Tan Urban Development Investment Joint Stock Company since 2019, and had completed the rainwater drainage system and filled the roadbed with sand. However, during the implementation process, the People's Committee of Trung Do Ward requested to temporarily stop construction due to concerns that the road would block rainwater drainage and cause flooding in the area.

Regarding the reason for requesting the enterprise to temporarily stop the road construction, Mr. Tran Quang Dai - Chairman of Trung Do Ward People's Committee said that on the current status of that road, there was a main drainage ditch from Phuong Hoang Street to the Cau Den Pumping Station water tank, about 300m long and 2-3m wide. This ditch is the main drainage ditch during the rainy season to prevent flooding in many areas in the area. “Meanwhile, according to the detailed planning for the Vinh Tan Ecological Urban Area Project, the 13.5m wide planned road mentioned above is invested in building a D600 circular sewer line to collect surface water through manholes and collection holes within the project boundary. Therefore, this ditch cannot solve the problem of flooding for Phuong Hoang Street and residential area block 3, Phuong Hoang block, Trung Do ward (more than 100 households). Therefore, when Handico - Vinh Tan Urban Development Investment Joint Stock Company starts construction, we request a temporary halt,” said Mr. Dai.

The leaders of Trung Do ward also requested that the enterprise invest in a larger canal, with a budget of about 2 billion VND, before being allowed to construct the road. However, the enterprise said that it was not their responsibility. "In the approval documents, we are not responsible for building that canal," said the General Director of Handico - Vinh Tan Urban Development Investment Joint Stock Company.

The drainage ditch runs along the planned road. The leaders of Trung Do ward said that if Vinh Tan Ecological Urban Area builds the road according to the approved plan, it will block this drainage ditch. Therefore, the locality requested to stop the construction. Photo: Tien Hung

While the parties are passing the buck, the households who bought land in the Trung Do Townhouse Project are suffering every day because there is no road. “We asked the investor, Trung Do Cooperative, and they said it was because of Handico - Vinh Tan Company. We asked Handico - Vinh Tan, and they said it was because the Trung Do Ward People's Committee did not allow the road to be built. We asked the ward, and the ward said it was because the businesses refused to spend money to build the ditch. We don't know who else to ask for help,” a resident shook his head in disappointment.